Palma que Camina
Clay, steel, porcelain, rubber and eleven vapor distilled essences
3m x 3m (variable)
2024
Palma que camina is part of an ongoing body of work that examines memory, gesture, technology, and nature as generative dislocations, allowing us to confront untranslatability, intimacy, and identity. The object, inspired by the natural landscape of my home country, Ecuador, is juxtaposed with everyday smells and the context of its exhibition in London art spaces, creating a sense of pause and discomfort. This effect is heightened as the object requires the audience to lean and reach, moving from stable, autonomous positions into more vulnerable ones. The scents are only released when the audience presses the pumps on each flower, needing them to touch, lean in, and ingest/smell them.
This work would not exist without Byron Kalomamas whose infinite patience, brilliant knowledge and support have made this piece grow. Michelle Lee-Johnson, Theo Shier, Kamau Wainaina, Vincent Matushska and Matteo Ross, thank you for your voice, your love and your scent.
01
Duermen con la ventana abierta
[You keep the windows open to sleep]
Two cotton t-shirts worn for nine nights in a share bed
02
Aliento ajeno
[Someone else’s breath]
63 pieces of cotton cheesecloth chewed for three minutes each over the span of four days
03
Tengo agua cuando te falta
[I hold water when you can’t]
Soil from the pots of two monsteras that only grown well in a corner, one from when I moved in and another Kamau left behind
04
Llore y me curaron con dos gotas y cáscaras de huevo
[I cried and they healed it with two drops and eggshells]
Cotton cheesecloth soaked in Sangre de Drago for seven days
05
Tu te comes el fréjol
[Number two with hash browns]
Three white cotton t-shirts worn for two weeks to weld and sleep in, many days at once with a couple of days in between
06
Al armario no le llega el sol
[The sun doesn’t touch the cupboard]
Two blue towels and a piece of cloth that no one remembers forgetting in a corner with damp
07
Cuidado con la pepa
[Don’t swallow the stone]
Six ripe chirimoyas imported from Ecuador, purchased in a shop in Bethnal Green
08
Cada dos semanas me acuerdo
[I remember twice a month]
Cotton shirt worn in bed for twelve days and carried for three weeks
09
A una cuadra de mi casa comen las cabras
[Goats are eating near my flat]
450g of ground taken in the morning from Haggerston Park
10
Siempre huele más fuerte después de las cinco
[It smells stronger after five]
Felted wood kept in the 3d print room from January to June
11
Toco madera para encontrar suelo
[Touch wood to find ground]
Residues of oak
